Shaye Elliott
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How to Organize Spices (like a real adult)

January 28, 2014 - 11 Comments

organizingspices

Sometimes, I want to say to myself: “Self, it's time to grow up.”

Self, it's time to stop wadding the fitted sheets into a giant ball, shoving them in the unorganized linen cabinet, and hoping that *God forbid* a guest ever opens that door.

Self, it's time to stop neglecting pairing socks together when your folding clothes and instead just hiding all the random, lone-socks in Stuart's drawer.

Self, it's time to stop having a spice cabinet that looks like a paprika bomb was set off amongst a maple syrup festival that was taking place in a college dorm room.

Seriously. It's bad. I'm not even going to show you the before pictures because a) I didn't take any and b) even if I had, I wouldn't have the guts to show them to you because I literally had olive oil dripping down the side of my cabinet with pieces of dried rosemary stuck in it, alongside a nice ring of molasses.

(Hangs unorganized head in shame).

But that's enough focusing on the bad – don't you think? Most of you have been around here for long enough to know that eventually, even if it takes a few days…er….years, I WILL get my projects done. The spice cabinet? Well. That's one for the record book.

Because I buy my spices in bulk and they often come in plastic bags, I needed to come up with a system that would work for different amounts of spice. For example, right now, I have an entire pound of dried rosemary. I also have about two ounces of Garam Marsala. Big difference. There was no “one-size-fits-all” container that was going to work for this job.

Inspiration really hit home when my Mom let me borrow her label maker.

**This is where the heavens open and angels start singing Hallelujah and sending down rays of sunshine and butterflies**

Once I had that label maker in hand, there was no stopping me.

organizingspices4

How To Organize A Spice Cabinet

(so you don't look like a total, unorganized goob)

You will need:
– Clear Mason jars, in a variety of sizes (half gallon, quart, pint, jelly, etc.) and lids
– Label maker

Step One: Remove all the spices from your cabinet. Wipe the shelves down with a clean rag and some citrus vinegar or something. Time to remove all that skanky buildup (don't act like your shelves ain't got it).

Step Two: Remove all of the old/nasty/gross/flavorless spices and discard. If you haven't used it, GET RID OF IT! Ain't no need to take up valuable shelf space.

Step Three: Consolidate the remaining spices into separate jars, according to the amount of each spice you have. For example, I had a few different loose bags of thyme. I consolidated all of the thyme into a large jar and discarded all of the old packaging.

Step Four: Label each jar with it's contents. Even if you think you don't “need to”, I seriously recommend this step. Because as soon as you don't, you'll totally forget, and then you'll have to open three jars to smell them and figure out which is which. And sometimes even the smells can get confusing! I particularly liked this step because it made me feel like Martha Stewart or something. Plus, this way when Stuart cooks, he won't have to ask me six times where something is.

Step Five: Organize according to use.

I have a “baking” or “sweet” shelf, if you will:

organizingspices1

On this shelf, I've included such spices as nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, star anise, baking powder, cacoa powder, rapadura, etc. If I need it for baking, say, sweet carrot muffins, it'll be there.

I also have a “cooking” or “savory” shelf:

organizingspices2

This includes all the rest of my herbs and spices, such as: Garam Marsala, curry powder, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, salt, pepper, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. There are more but you get the idea. Right? Shall I go on?

Saffron, fenugreek seeds, dried mustard.

organizingspices

Okay. Seriously. You get the idea.

Lastly, I have a third shelf for all of our loose leaf teas and a few other herbs:

organizingspices3

We almost exclusively drink loose leaf and the Mason jars are a great way to keep them all accounted for, especially since some of them are extremely difficult to tell apart. In this cabinet, I keep dandelion, alfalfa, raspberry leaf, nettle (all for Mother's Milk tea!), Earl Grey, green tea, rosehips, and a few more odds and ends.

It's amazing the sense of accomplishment I had once this project was finished. Why, oh why, did I put it off for so long? Why, oh why, do I not own at least eight label makers? Why, oh why, do I still wad my fitted sheets and shove them in the closet?

Guess I still need to work on that last one.

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

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Comments:

  1. Kristen

    January 28, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    Looks great! I use the same system (love Mason jars) but I find that the regular lids cause the spices to stale quickly. So I purchased the plastic lids that fit on mason jars and use those instead. It looks nicer and keeps the spices fresher!

    Reply
  2. Mel

    January 28, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    Shaye,

    It’s official. I am ordering myself a label printer. I resisted the type-A-organizer-self that I am for too long.

    Thanks for the inspiration! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Mel

    Reply
  3. Mazzy

    January 29, 2014 at 2:32 am

    you should totally do a linen closet organization post! hahaha. i would love it!

    Reply
  4. Amanda

    January 29, 2014 at 8:26 am

    It was like Christmas morning for me the day I bought my label maker. Even better was the time my husband bought me a laminator for an out of the blue present. He knows the way to my heart!

    I need to go through my spices again and organize. I have added a lot more lately and need to get them organized. I keep telling myself I will do it once we move to a new house (yet our current house isn’t even on the market yet…) but I need to stop procrastinating and just do it! Yours look beautiful!

    Reply
  5. maria

    January 29, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    How to fold a fitted sheet. Mind Blown! Of course it comes from Martha Stewart. LOL
    http://www.marthastewart.com/269141/how-to-fold-a-fitted-sheet

    Reply
  6. Ashley Housley

    February 4, 2014 at 2:19 pm

    MUST do this. Also, glad to hear your previous, unorganized spice cabinet sounds exactly like mine!

    Reply
  7. Rhonda Egeland

    February 18, 2014 at 7:38 am

    Once – when I was laid off work for quite some time, I ended up putting all of my spices in alphabetical order. I knew then it was time to go out and find another job.

    Reply
  8. Sherry

    February 18, 2014 at 7:16 pm

    I actually took this one step further, I placed them in alphabetical order in then lazy susan. Now I no longer have to try and find that bottle of red pepper flakes, I know exactly where to go to get it. I also no longer end up buying more of a spice that I already have since I can find it.

    Reply
  9. Dianne O'Grady

    February 20, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    Oh.My. Goodness. I have been following your blog for some time and love it. Yummy recipes too..but this post had me DYING laughing..because my unorganized head hangs too…Wad and shove to get r done. Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do. Oh..and I too have the paprika bomb, in addition to a million mustard seeds thanks to my 2 y.o=)

    Reply
  10. Becca

    February 22, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    Great idea! Just for your own knowledge though, it is ”garam masala” no R ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  11. Cary

    November 12, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Wonderful! and don’t forget that in lieu of a label maker, masking tape works great too! ๐Ÿ™‚ Adore your description of your before spice cupboard. and the truth is, molasses has a mind of its own. I put my bottle through the car wash, and still always, there is a molasses ring. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply

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